Russ Yeast was a first-team All-Big 12 selection last season. (Photo by Kansas State Athletics)
Craig Yeast was a record-setting receiver at Kentucky playing with quarterback Tim Couch under coach Hal Mumme. He went on to play three years in the National Football League and four more in the Canadian Football League.
However, he always thought his son, Russ, was destined to be a defensive back — and he was right. He played four years at Louisville before transferring to Kansas State for the 2021 season and now he’s headed to the NFL to play for the Los Angeles Rams as a seventh-round draft pick.
“I knew his mentality and attitude,” said Craig Yeast, who is beginning his first season as the head coach at Mercer County in his hometown of Harrodsburg. “I knew he would be a defensive back. We were in Canada when Russ first started playing football and I coached defense for his Little League team. When we moved to Danville, I coached him in Little League and he was a safety. That’s what he learned to play first.”
“I taught him to find the ball, see the ball and get the ball. I told him if you make a wrong move and someone runs past you, you better run them down. He had the speed to do that and he loved to hit people. Safety was the perfect position for him.”
Russ Yeast started his collegiate career at Louisville and played four years for the Cardinals. He transferred to Kansas State for the 2021 season and blossomed into a NFL draft pick when he had 48 tackles, 14 pass breakups and four interceptions in 13 games to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors
He’ll be in Los Angeles this weekend and admits that is when being a NFL player will really hit him.
“Going to the Rams is the perfect situation for me,” Russ Yeast said. “They are a very good team but it is also a good situation for me position-wise. I was not worried about what round I would be drafted. I just wanted to go to the best situation possible and think for me that is the Rams.”
Craig Yeast knows the draft is a “finicky process” that can be fun and frustrating almost at the same time.
“At the end of the day the cards fell the way they did. I think it is a great fit for him,” Craig Yeast said.
Russ Yeast’s agent had indicated he felt a west coast team might draft him and Craig Yeast said there were some people in the Rams organization familiar with his son from high school and/or college.
